December 30, 2009

“Adapt” is about the adaptation and establishment of the conflicting environments of “industry” and “family”. This conflict is represented by the destruction and recreation of a standard unit or “order”. This standard unit symbolizes the potential for structural and cultural advancement. The materials being standardized by the family refer to the production of constructional material as a resource for creation.
The workers of industry are operating a machine to force an uninhabitable environment on the opposite side of the room. They are dissolving standard sized sheets of Styrofoam into acetone. This destruction of the standard sized industrial material represents a destruction of the standardized unit and makes a structurally unusable substance. When the representative of family is introduced- they are beginning to pour a concrete foundation with the goal of overcoming the uninhabitable space within this toxic environment. The foundation is a standard sized 4’ x 8’ rectangle, creating the sense of order destroyed by the workers of industry. When finished with the concrete, the family rolls a fan in front of the foundation, establishing a chemically safe environment.
When the foundation is dry and the toxic fumes are blown away, the family continues the process of adaptation and establishment of a domestic environment. Bread is baked in the new environment and all eight pieces are placed on a sheet of linen, accompanied by eight slabs of cement on a combined one yard of linen- again contributing to the creation and practice of order. The making of food in this new environment is symbolic of the idea of family and the maintaining of an inhabitable, welcoming space. Flatbread consisting of flour and water was one of the first created foods. Linen was one of the first fabrics manufactured. I use these materials to compare the conflict of industry vs. family to the time of human’s original adaptation to the natural environment, and the advancement of technology and order. Linen was used to cover the bodies of the living and to preserve the bodies of the dead, but always served to protect and bring psychological security to the individual and family.
The workers of industry continue to work, but their efforts are now overcome by the family’s order.

the viewer's query:
is the artist's statement an integral or requisite element of this work?
can 'adapt' stand on it's own [video and stills] without the explanation / elaboration offered in the statement?
does the artist's statement add to / detract from your enjoyment or appreciation of this work?
video and stills via cargo collective
more conceptual art
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